Alpha vs Beta
by DragonFlyer9
Summary: What happens when Dex and his team meet their alternates?
1. Familiar Faces

**First Dex Hamilton Fanfic that I've posted on here. Love the show, so I decided to write my own plot for the events following what happened in 'Hidden Assets'. **

**I only own Alex (and a few others in other future chapters). **

* * *

Clouds appeared from nowhere, grouping together and gathering into one. A single flash of lightning split the sky, opening a black vortex in the sky. A large ship was hurled from its eye, crashing into the ground, sending a shockwave echoing. Through the cloud of smoke that covered the area, four silhouettes rose from the ground.

"Everybody OK?" a voice asked.

"Yeah"

"I'm OK"

"What happened?" three new voices responded.

"I'm not too sure" the first voice admitted. "Alright, you guys stay here, I'll check things out."

"No way. We're not letting you go out there alone" one of voices said stubbornly.

"You're hurt," the first voice pointed out, before adding reassuringly, "Besides, I'll be back in no time." With that, one of the shadows ran off, disappearing amidst the smoke.

* * *

Dex, Zap and Tung walk into the lab, all covered in saliva. Jenny spun around on her chair, giggling when she saw them.

"Had fun with the Slaver Beetles?" she laughed. Dex smirked; Zap crossed his arms, while Tung tried to shake the spit off himself.

"Why do we even have those bugs?" Tung muttered.

"It's all for the science guys. A little drool isn't too big a price to pay."

Zap stared at him. "Maybe for you. You like getting covered in it"

"Nothing a few showers can't fix" Dex pointed out.

"Well go have them now, that stuff stinks" Jenny said, holding her hand over her nose. The three of them looked at each other, before heading out of the lab, towards the showers.

Jenny smiled as she heard the sound of the showers turn on. She turned back to the contraption she was making, just as Habibot flew up to her, tugging on her shirt collar to get her attention.

"What?" Habibot pointed towards one of the screens. It was the view from one of the security cameras, showing outside the habitat, near the trash chutes. She stared at the screen for a moment, not seeing anything. She frowned at Habi, swatting him away with her hand. He hovered in front of her, still pointing at the monitor. When Jenny ignored him, he flew behind her and pulled on her ponytail.

"Ow!" she exclaimed. She whipped around, glaring at him as he floated beside the screen.

"I swear—" she cut off when she saw something move on the screen. "What was that?" she startled, completely forgetting about Habibot.

She stared at the monitor, waiting for it to move again. A shadow ran across the camera's path, allowing Jenny full sight of it.

"Huh?" she gasped in shock and confusion. She rubbed her eyes. For a second, she thought she saw Dex out there. Even though the camera created static, it was the splitting image of him, uniform and everything. But it couldn't have been him; there was no way he could have finished having his shower so fast, and even if he had, why would he be out there? She opened her wrist com, calling him just in case.

"Dex, Dex come in." There was no answer. Jenny was kind of freaked out now. Not knowing what to do, she decided to wait until the boys were done.

* * *

Twenty minutes passed after both Dex and Zap had finished having their showers, and Tung was still in there.

"How long does it take frog-boy to have one shower?" Zap asked rhetorically. Dex shrugged.

"You know how Tung is." They waited a further fifteen minutes, but eventually, he came out.

"What took you so long?" Zap questioned, sounding annoyed.

"Hey, I had to make sure I got rid of all the spit from _all_ areas." Dex and Zap cringed when he said that. Dex opened his communicator, answering a call from Jenny.

"Jenny what is it?" he asked, noticing the almost frightened expression on her face.

"Come to the lab and hurry" she said hastily, before signing off. Dex exchanged a confused glance with the others.

"What was that all about?" Zap inquired.

"I'm not sure," Dex murmured. "But we're about to find out. Come on" he gestured with his hand for the two of them to follow.

When they reached the lab, Jenny was pacing nervously.

"What's wrong?" Dex asked, getting her attention. Jenny turned to them, running over to one of the monitors.

"Check this out" she said, replaying one of the security tapes. The three boys watched the screen carefully. When nothing happened, they looked to Jenny, who told them to keep watching.

"Wait for it" On the screen, the Dex lookalike ran across in front of the camera. The three of them gasped.

"Wow! Another Dex!" Tung exclaimed.

"Who was that?" Zap turned to Dex. He shook his head hesitantly.

"I don't know."

Without warning, Dex ran out of the lab.

"Now where's he going?" Jenny asked. Zap and Tung ran after him. Jenny turned her attention back to the monitor. It started to lose its focus and the static grew. Frantically, Jenny tried to get the camera back online. The screen switched off entirely, leaving Jenny staring at an empty black screen.

"This isn't good" she murmured under her breath.

* * *

Dex stopped running when he reached the garbage disposal. Looking around, he spotted the security camera. Fast as lightning, he grabbed it and switched it off. Call it a hunch, but he was almost certain he knew what was going on. At any rate, he couldn't let his team know the truth.

He started to look around, searching for his apparent doppelgänger amongst the dumpsters.

"Hello Dex." His head shot up when he heard the familiar voice. He spun around, seeing a young girl walk out of the shadows. She was the same height as him, with the same coloured golden-brown hair tied up in a high ponytail. Her eyes were red, just like his. She wore a uniform identical to his, except she wore boots, white leggings and her shirt was pinkish-red and longer beneath her belt. She was looking directly at him, her hands on her hips, and her smile hinting a mischievous side behind an untold innocence.

"Long-time no see."

Dex stared at her in complete disbelief. Even though he had a feeling it would have been her, it didn't make it any less shocking seeing her standing in front of him. "Struth" Dex whispered. Before he could do anything, Zap and Tung came running out.

"Uh oh" he exclaimed, his eyes flickering between them and the girl. The two of them stared wide-eyed at the almost identical pair in front of them.

"It IS another Dex!" Tung shouted, pointing at the girl.

"What's going on out there?" Jenny's voice came from Zap's wrist com. Dex looked at his teammates.

"I guess I should explain" he remarked, rubbing the back of his head.

Zap folded his arms across his chest. "You think?"

Dex, Zap, Tung returned to the lab, closely followed by the girl. "Who's she?" Jenny asked suspiciously. The girl put her hands on her hips and smiled at Dex.

"You never told them about me? Disappointing Dexy." Dex's cheeks tinged pink in embarrassment at her comment, and even more when his team stared at him as a result of it.

"Dexy?" Zap questioned, smirking.

"She your girlfriend?" Tung asked. Both the he and the girl shuddered and made faces.

"Definitely not" Dex clarified. He turned to the girl.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Hey come on, aren't you even going to properly introduce me to your team? I bet they're dying to know who I am." The way she spoke to him was almost challenging. Dex sighed with exasperation. Resentfully, he introduced her.

"Guys, this is Alex." The girl now known as Alex gave him an inquisitive look. Wincing, Dex continued.

"Alex…Hamilton. My sister."

* * *

**Seeing as though it was my birthday today, I figured I might as well post the first chapter. Hopefully it wasnt too bad. Please tell me what you think.**


	2. Meet the Team

**Second chapter is up. Hopefully this is turning out alright; I always feel nervous whenever I post a new story/chapter.**

**I take full credit for the Ice-Wing Dragonflies. I came up with them about three years ago, when I watched Dex Hamilton for one of the first times. **

* * *

"You're sister?!" Zap, Jenny and Tung shouted in unison. Dex flinched at their response. Alex watched in amusement as they bombarded him with questions.

"So you really didn't tell them" she commented.

Dex turned to face her. "And I suppose you told your team?" Alex looked taken aback by his retort.

"Well, um…I mean, Betas do things secondly based on the Alphas actions." The rest of Dex's team stared at her with blank faces.

"I'll take that as a no then" Dex responded dryly. "And where is your team?"

"Back at our ship. I told them to wait while I had a look around" she explained to her brother. "It wasn't an easy trip; alternate worlds aren't exactly fun to travel to and from you know."

Jenny spoke up, "Alternate worlds?"

Alex smiled at her. "Yep." She faced Dex again. "You didn't tell them anything did you." She wasn't even asking this time. Dex sighed and faced his team.

"Guys, there's something you should know. Alex and I aren't just brother and sister. She comes from another world, almost exactly the same ours."

"Wait, wouldn't that make you two…" Tung's voice trailed off.

Alex nodded, putting her arm over Dex's shoulder. "Alternate forms."

A loud gasp echoed through the room.

"How's that even possible?" Jenny asked, stunned.

"It's quite simple really" Alex explained. "You see, our father came from the world we're in now, what we call the _Alpha Dimension_ while our mother was from the universe I came from; the _Beta Dimension_. When Dex and I were born, my mother returned to the Beta Dimension with me, but our father remained here with Dex."

"I thought parallel dimensions were only accessible with a phase glider" Zap stated.

Alex smirked and walked towards him. He clearly wasn't convinced, so she'd just have to show him.

"Let me guess; pilot, half-insect, and has one heck of a temper" she laughed.

"Huh" Zap gasped, taking a step back.

Jenny smiled at Zap. "I'd say that's a perfect description of him" she teased.

"How'd you know?"

"Because I have one my team just like him. Took me ages to convince her to stay with the ship when we crashed."

"Her?" Zap questioned, his attentiveness heightening. Jenny frowned slightly when his face seemed to light up.

Alex nodded. "Parallel Universes aren't exactly the same. If a coin was tossed, an Alpha Dimensioner might read it as heads, but for Beta Dimensioner, it would be tails. Your alternate form is also the opposite gender to you; hence why I'm Dex's sister."

Jenny looked thoughtful. "So, that means my alternate is—"

"Male" Alex finished off her sentence. "He's part of my team, and an engineer, just like you" Jenny smiled when she heard this.

Tung spoke up. "You mean there's another Tung out there?"

"Not exactly" Alex replied. She opened her mouth to explain it to him, but shook the thought away. It would take much too long for him to understand with his level of intelligence.

She looked to Dex. "You know, our ship is pretty badly damaged and my team and I are stranded in this dimension with nowhere to go." Dex blinked in surprise. Alex smiled sweetly at him, her eyes sparkling.

"I suppose you can stay here until you fix your ship" he offered hesitantly. She gave him a small hug.

"Thanks Dex. I'll go get my team" she said, running to the nearest Habitat exit.

"She seems nice" Tung commented once she had gone.

Dex grunted. "Agree to disagree."

"How come you never told us about the Beta Dimension?" Zap asked him.

"I have my reasons. Her being one of them" he said bitterly.

"She doesn't seem that bad" Jenny pointed out.

"You've known her for fifteen minutes; I've known her all my life."

* * *

When Alex returned with her team, she had informed Dex that she had told them the truth about the dimensions. The eight of them stood in the lab, Alphas on one side, Betas on the other, staring at each other in mixture of confusion and suspicion. They almost mirrored each other. Dex and Alex had nervous looks on their faces.

Zap stared at his alternate, a girl with black and white hair outlining a lightning streak. She had blue eyes like him and a black and silver uniform. She wore double spiked silver communicators on her wrists, and strapless goggles on her head. Both of them had their arms crossed as they stared unblinking at each other.

Jenny faced her own alternate form. His blue hair was darker than hers slightly, but their eyes were the same shade of green. He was wearing a sapphire and indigo coloured shirt with folded up sleeves, and like her, he had goggles on his head. The belt he wore had an 8 engraved on it. Their eyes were narrowed slightly, in uncertainty.

Tung, on the other hand, had the biggest smile across his face as he stared into the eyes of his Beta form. She was slightly taller than him, with pale greenish skin and short moss coloured hair. Faint scales speckled her arms. She didn't wear goggles or a pack like him, but their uniforms were almost identical. She was smiling right back at him.

Alex stepped forward. "Dex, this is my team." She pointed to Tung's alternate first.

"This is Wave, my tracker. She's…"

"I'm a lizard-girl!" Wave finished her sentence. Alex smiled, before gazing at the girl with black hair.

"And this is Jaz. She, well" She paused and turned to Jaz. "Why don't you show them" she advised. Jaz rolled her eyes.

"Do I have to?" she asked resignedly. Alex gave her an encouraging gesture.

Sighing, she stood up straighter. From behind her, two sets of wings extended. They started to flap at a tremendous speed, turning to a blurry movement behind her. Zap's eyes widened.

"And last but not lease, this is Shade 8" she said, gesturing her head towards her final teammate. Shade smiled lightly.

Dex stood beside his sister. "Tung, could I get you to show Wave around the place? Help her adjust to this dimension."

Tung leapt with delight. "Sure! You can count on me" He turned to his alternate. "Come on Wave." The two of them ran off.

"Jenny, perhaps you could help Shade do the same" he suggested. Jenny looked surprised, but didn't argue.

"Uh, sure" she said sheepishly. They walked out of the lab together.

"Zap, I'm sure Jaz would appreciate some assistance bringing their ship into the hanger."

Jaz opened her mouth to object, but kept silent when Alex casted her a warning glance.

"I sure would" she muttered through gritted teeth, avoiding eye contact with her alternate.

Zap swallowed nervously. "No problem" he assured Dex. The two insect hybrids headed for the hanger, keeping a distance between them.

"I assume there's a reason you sent them off alone with their alternates" Alex asked him once they were alone.

"Drop the act Alex. I know you're not here for a family reunion. Why'd you come here, and more importantly, how'd you get here?" he questioned her.

Alex lowered her head. "I need your help" she murmured.

"What do you mean?" Alex looked into his eyes.

"It's Syrrus." Dex widened his eyes in shock.

"Syrrus? But we defeated him. I confronted him in his lair, stopped his super bug from destroying Metro City" he stammered.

Alex shook her head.

"Are you familiar with the Ice-Wing Dragonflies?" she asked.

"Rarest of the Odonata Species, many believe they are just a myth. Even I'm not sure they exist. Only one swam is believed in to be in existence; on Orus, coldest planet in the known galaxy. They can fly through space, time and cross dimensions. Their wings are made out of very delicate ice particles, but at high speed, are sharp enough to cut through steel, as well as allow them to travel up to twice the speed of sound. They're said to possess incredible telepathic powers" Dex finished identifying the mythical insect.

Alex pointed to the screen showing inside the cargo hanger where the two pilots were. "See her," she said, pointing to Jaz.

"What about her?" Dex asked.

Alex snickered. "Yours might be stronger and faster, but his insect DNA is nothing compared to hers."

Dex stared at his sister. "Are you saying what I think you are?" Alex nodded.

"Jaz is part Ice-Wing Dragonfly. She's not telepathic, but she has a strong connection with them. It's how we got here in the first place" Dex's gaze moved from her to the screen.

"Does she know?" he asked.

"That she caused the dimensional exchange? No, she doesn't."

Dex folded his arms. "I mean that you used her to get here" he elucidated.

Alex bit down on her lip, not responding.

"So you did use her"

"I had no choice" Alex said defensively. "It was the only way to get here. Dex look, our world's in danger, and we can't do this alone. Will you help us or not?" she asked, her eyes pleading. Dex took a moment, before smiling and putting his hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Of course we'll help. What are family for."

* * *

**Each of the Beta Teams' name's have a significant meaning. However, it would take a little too long to try and explain them all. So, just enjoy them for what they are. **


	3. First Impressions

**This took MUCH longer than I had hoped to get done. Sorry for the wait. I've been so busy of late, having had barely enough time to even read anything, let alone write my own material. I had expected to finish and post this chapter in March. As you can see, that didn't exactly go to plan. **

**So basically this chapter (as the title suggests) is the actual characters getting to know their beta forms a little better. Nothing really else to it, just adding a bit of background. Sibling rivalry and Romance is already sparking, as well as many other emotions. Janex supporters should hopefully be happy, seeing as though I added a touch of them in here. Oh and don't you worry, being a hardcore fan of them myself, there will be plenty of Zenny to come. **

**Alright, enough of that. Back to the story!**

* * *

Zap walked somewhat nervously next to Jaz as they headed towards the hanger. He tried to think of something to say to her, but was completely lost for words. What could he say? All he could think about was her wings, beating with such fury, yet moving so elegantly at the same time.

He cleared his throat once they reached the hanger.

"We'll bring your ship in here, there should be plenty of room" he said to her. She didn't reply.

"Jaz?" he murmured, putting his hand on her shoulder. She spun around, knocking his hand away, her blue eyes blazing.

"Listen closely. Alex might trust you and your team, but do not make the mistake of thinking I do as well" she hissed. She walked away from him, in the direction of the exit.

Zap glared after her. "You're going to try bringing the ship in on your own?" he questioned her.

"Wouldn't be the first time" she muttered cryptically, slowing her pace.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. Jaz stopped completely.

"I'm half insect; what do you think it means?" she retorted. Zap smirked and extended his own wings. He flew above her.

"I think it means you need to stop thinking you're alone" he said warmly, landing on the ground in front of her. Her eyes were wide in disbelief.

"You…" she tried to speak, but couldn't.

Zap smiled at her. "So, are we going to bring this ship in or what?" For the first time, she smiled back at him.

"Together" she agreed.

* * *

"Wow Tung, your sense of smell is amazing!" Wave complimented him after he finished telling her about himself. Tung admired his gloved hand, nodding egotistically.

"Yeah, it's pretty good. Sometimes more of a burden rather than a gift though. And what about you?" he asked.

"Well, being a lizard, I have naturally good senses. But my smell is nothing compared to yours" she said, trying to be humble.

"You kidding? You said you tracked down that entire swarm of Acacia Bees from across your galaxy. Your sense of smell is awesome!" Wave blushed at his comment, and giggled.

"So what else can you do?" she asked him.

"Being a frog and all," Tung leapt up onto the wall, "I can jump pretty high."

"Impressive" Wave commented, climbing up the wall until she hung upside-down from the ceiling. A fly drifted past, her long tongue stretching out and drawing it into her mouth, at an incredible speed. Tung stared up at her in awe. "Whoa."  
"Say, are you hungry?" he asked her.

"I sure am" she exclaimed, jumping down beside him.

"Come on, I know how to make a dish you'll just love."

* * *

Jenny pulled her screwdriver from her belt and began to make adjustments to one of her many contraptions. As she did, she noticed her alternate watching her very carefully. She tried to ignore his stare, but finally it became too much for her to handle, and she cracked. She spun around on her chair.

"Don't you have anything better to do than to stare at me all day?" she questioned him, a certain harshness being reflected in her voice. He stared into her eyes, making her inhale a short sharp breath. They were bright green, the exact same as hers.

"I just got to this dimension; I don't exactly belong here, do I" he countered her comment. He turned away.

"But I suppose if Jaz has brought the ship back here, I can go repair it." He began to walk away, making Jenny immediately get to her feet.

"I'll help" she blurted out, shocking herself.

Shade turned back around, smiling at her. "If you insist" he commented slyly.

* * *

Dex sat down at his computer, opening his holomail. A smile grew across his face when he saw he had a new message from Jane. He opened it up and began to read it.

_Dearest Dex,_

_You'll be happy to know that all sixty-four crickets are well and I bet you'll be as overjoyed as I was to find out that there are a few dozen more on their way. Sam and one of the other females have mated and their eggs are due in a couple of weeks, towards the beginning of next month. I look forward to raising the next generations of crickets; with your assistance of course. It's been many years since the last eggs were laid. _

_I hope all is well with you as it is here. It'll be good to see you again, and I dearly look forward to your next visit. I apologise for missing the last time I was meant to visit the habitat. I wanted to come, but I couldn't bear to miss the mating ritual. It was absolutely fantastic! You would have loved it. I've sent you part of the footage I captured on it, but it was hard to get much of the detail recorded. I'll be sending you a detailed report written on the mating ritual as soon as possible. _

_Until next time my sweet, farewell. And good luck at the Habitat. _

_Jane Goodchild._

"Ooh, looks like someone has a girlfriend." Dex jumped when he heard his sister's voice right next to his ear. He spun around and stared at her.

"Don't do that! And stop reading over my shoulder. This is private" he snapped at her.

Alex simply smiled. "You're very touchy today. Do you miss her? Jane is it?" Dex glared at his sister.

"For your information, she is a colleague and friend; a fellow entomologist." Alex looked at the holomail.

"Cause I call all my friends _'dearest'_ and _'my sweet'_" she taunted. Dex went red in the face.

"She's a good friend" he murmured, trying to cover up his feelings, though it wasn't much use. "Don't you have teammates to be checking up on?" he questioned her. Rolling her eyes at him, Alex left in search for her team. Dex turned back to his holomail and sighed softly at Jane's letter.

* * *

Wave walked after Tung, eager to know what he was going to cook for her. He held an empty jar in his hand.

"I need to get a few ingredients for the recipe" he said as they reached a forest pavilion. Wave nodded and waited outside as he entered. He came out about ten minutes later, the jar now full of dragonflies. Wave couldn't take her eyes of them. The two of them headed to the kitchen. Tung put the jar on the table.

"These dragonflies are really juicy. They're great raw, but in this dish, they're even better" he told her as he got some equipment out. "Want to try one?" he asked her, noticing her still eyeing the dragonflies.

"I haven't had dragonflies in such a long time" Wave explained to Tung.

"Why not?"

"Because of Jaz. She hates me eating them. Tells me off anytime I even lick my lips. She's half one herself you know."

Tung stopped where he was. "Aw that must really suck." Wave nodded. He went back to preparing the dish.

"Pass me three dragonflies will ya?" he called out to her. Wave unscrewed the lid, accidently dropping the jar. It smashed on the ground, releasing all the bugs.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed.

"No worries" Tung said, swinging his long tongue towards a swarm of three. He pulled them close and chucked them into the mixture he was making.

"Ugh" Wave cringed.

"Relax. It adds more flavour. Try it if you don't believe me." Not wanting to look outdone by a frog, she whipped her own tongue towards some of them. The dragonflies were sweet against her tastebuds. She added them to the mixture.

"Yum! I forgot how delicious they were." Tung smiled at her, finishing off the dish. He turned around, holding a huge bowl in his hands.

"Here we are. Crunchy dragonflies in my special hollandaise." Wave dipped her finger into the bowl, before shoving it into her mouth.

"Mmm! Delicious!"

* * *

Jaz tried to avoid eye contact with Zap as she flew the damaged ship back to the Habitat. Since he showed her his wings, she couldn't stop thinking about them. Never had she met anyone that was like her before; she always figured she was alone. But now there was someone the exact same as her.

It was a rough flight. The landing gear had been badly damaged, making landing the ship in the already crowded hanger even more difficult. But the two pilots managed it. When they got off the ship, Jaz stroked her hand up against the metal.

"It's going to need a lot of repair work before it gets airborne again" she stated as she observed the damage caused. She followed Zap as they headed back into the habitat, but stopped and clutched her side in pain. Zap realized and ran to her side.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine" she murmured. Her body trembled as pain shot through her body, contradicting what she just said.

"You're hurt" Zap said as he tried to assist her, ending in some unfriendly results.

"Get off me!" she yelled, swinging her arm at him, causing her to collapse. Zap stepped back, shocked at her sudden rage outburst. She pulled herself to her feet. "I said I'm fine" she muttered, limping off.

Zap stood there, frozen. He stared down at the ground. _Was that how he would have reacted?_ He wondered.

"Don't mind her" a voice sounded from behind him, making him spin around. Standing in the doorway was Alex. She walked over to him. "She's been in a bad mood ever since we crashed. I'm sure you of all people understand what that's like."

Zap looked down for a moment, before turning back to Alex. "Is she always this angry?" he asked.

Alex shook her head. "She hardly ever acts like this. She's just feeling confused about all this, same as everyone else. Don't hold it against her Zap; she's been through more than anyone knows." Zap wondered what she meant by that, but didn't ask, at risk of what Jaz might do if she found out. Instead he changed the subject.

"She's hurt isn't she" Alex nodded sadly.

"Why wouldn't she accept my help?" he asked.

"Because she'll never admit to being weaker than she anyone else" Alex explained. Zap nodded in understanding.

"How long has she been injured?" Alex looked deep in thought.

"It was when we crashed," she told him. Taking a breath in, she began to tell him the whole story.

* * *

**Next chapter will be focused completely on Alex's team and what happened, so don't expect any mention of the actual characters. Enjoy reading! Tell me what you think.**


	4. Flashback

"Guys, get your gear ready, we're going on a trip" Alex announced to her team. Jaz and Wave, who were locked in an arm-wrestle, broke apart and got to their feet. Shade was working on a mechanism nearby. He raised his goggles back to the top of his head and looked at their leader.

"Where are we going?" Wave asked excitedly.

"You'll see." Was all Alex told them.

"If you don't tell us where we're going, how do we know what gear to pack?" Shade questioned her as they packed the ship.

"Bring all the essentials" she instructed him. "It's not a mission, exactly." She walked off to sort through the items Wave was carrying over.

"Exactly?" Shade murmured in confusion.

His eyes were drawn to Jaz, as he watched her carry a heavy looking container over to the side of the ship. A smile spread across his face as he watched her. He hurried over to her.

"Need a hand?" he asked her. She simply walked past him as if he weren't there. At first he thought she didn't hear him, but that thought disappeared when she called back, "Nope" without even glancing at him. His smile faded and he sighed softly. Just as he thought. There was no way she'd be interested in him; he was just an engineer. What would she see in him? Trying to keep her out of his mind, he helped Alex and Wave pack the rest of the things, glancing over at the pilot he crushed on every spare moment he had.

* * *

"Alex, where are we going?" Jaz asked her leader as she flew the ship at a steady speed through the darkness of space. They had been flying for a long time and Alex still hadn't told them anything.

"Trust me" was the simple and not at all helpful response she had given to them.

"Alex we've been flying for hours," Shade added. "There's nothing here; just empty space." Wave stirred awake beside him.

"Are we there yet?" she yawned.

"There being where exactly?" Jaz asked sarcastically.

"Ok, I know you're all wondering why we're out here, but trust me it's for a good cause" Alex tried to settle her team.

"How's being lost a good cause?" Jaz countered.

"We're not lost" the crimson dressed girl responded.

"Then where are we?" Shade asked. Alex covered her eyes with her palm in frustration. This conversation was going in circles.

"Just keep flying straight" she ordered Jaz. With a look of doubt on her face, Jaz kept on flying.

"There's really nothing out here" she said, looking over her shoulder at the rest of the team.

"Jaz look out!" Shade yelled. Jaz turned her head back to the front, seeing a black vortex straight ahead. She tried to steer away from it but the pulling force of it was too strong, and it began to suck the ship into its dark centre.

"I've lost control!" she exclaimed. Alex held onto her seatbelt, not taking her eyes off the vortex.

"Alex! What do we do?" Wave cried. She didn't answer, still focused on the black area of space that their ship was being pulled into.

"We're going in!"

* * *

In the Alpha Dimension, clouds gathered in the sky, growing darker and darker. A single flash of lightning split the sky, opening a black vortex in the sky. The ship was hurled from its eye, crashing into the ground, sending a shockwave echoing. Inside the ship, Alex opened her eyes. The ship was surrounded by smoke, making it impossible to see what was outside.

"We made it" she whispered to herself. She looked around at the rest of her team. Wave was lying upside-down, her feet on her chair, her back and head on the ground. She was moaning. Shade was next to her, kneeling on the ground, clutching his head in pain. Alex looked to Jaz, who lay unmoving across the controls.

"Jaz?" she murmured her name. She didn't move. Alex quickly moved over to her, more slowly followed by Shade and Wave. Alex touched her hand to her shoulder. She turned her over, revealing a rather large piece of metal piercing into the side of her body. Blood flowed freely from underneath her ribs. Thankfully, she started to stir awake. Alex helped her off the chair and lay her down on her back.

"You're going to be fine" she assured her. Jaz shut her eyes tightly in pain as Shade removed the metal. Alex lifted up her shirt and applied the bandages onto her pale skin. Wave helped her sit up straight.

"You ok?" she asked her. Jaz groaned her reply.

The four of them sat in the ship for a while, allowing Jaz to begin to heal. Suddenly, Alex stood up.

"I'm going to have a look around" she declared. "You guys stay here, I'll be back soon." Jaz attempted to stand.

"Not a chance. You can't go out there alone. We'll go with you" she offered.

Alex frowned. "Jaz, you're hurt. There's no way I'm letting you come. Just wait here; I'll be back before you know it." Before anyone else could argue with her, she ran off the ship and vanished into the smoke-filled atmosphere.

* * *

**Shortish chapter, shorter than I'd hoped but not to worry. **

**I just want to clear one thing up. So basically, the Zap/Jenny relationship (at least in the series) has consisted of Zap's feelings for her being obvious since day one. Jenny however has much more success in keeping them hidden. Jaz and Shade are Beta forms of those two; but to mix things up I decided to make Jenny's alternate be the love-struck fool when he's around her, instead of the other way round. Does that make sense? **


End file.
